Got an old defect removed today!

[oatmeal]

So I had 1 defect from November 10, 2019. I got it removed today (March 3/2020) by simply emailing ebay and explaining my appeal.

I wrote about it few months ago somewhere in this forum haha, something about not using your 1 appeal too quickly and wait as long as you can because the package might arrive after the case is closed in the buyer's favor and you can appeal it and get it overturned.

Well what happened was the buyer opened a case on Nov 4, I told the buyer to please wait between Oct 23 - Nov 21 for package to be delivered. Buyer didn't want to wait and escalated the case on Nov. 8.

Nov.10 - Ebay closed the case in favor of the buyer seeing that my tracking info didn't show it was delivered (yet)

Nov.10 - I appealed the case because I actually did try to refund the buyer but got an error message from ebay saying can't complete the refund. I took a screenshot of it and sent it in with my appeal.

Nov.11 - They still favored the buyer and rejected my appeal on the reason: No tracking delivery was provided.

Nov. 15 - I checked my tracking and it was delivered. By this time I couldn't appeal since I already used it up and decided to just let it go.

March 2020, I found out this new email system from ebay works really well and they respond to your questions. So I decided to give it a try. I explained the entire story and provided 2 pieces of evidence
a) screenshot that I tried to refund the buyer but got error not allowing me to refund the buyer either on ebay or paypal), and b) tracking information shows it was delivered on Nov 15.

The first agent replied to my email and didn't really answer my specifics and just said I could get my money back if I communicated with the buyer blah blah blah. I didn't want the money back. I just wanted to have the defect removed. So I replied again to the email and another agent handled it this time who was very thorough and read all my case notes and saw my evidence and told me I had done everything right and was working very hard with an outstanding seller rating and great communication with my buyers. He removed my defect.

Wow.

So it just goes to show that some ebay agents are pretty clueless and don't even read or listen to your questions well. Other agents are unbelievably great and very intelligent showing great detail on everything you said and looking at your order history, details, notes, account,etc.

This new email system is really amazing. I'm super happy about it because I now send them important questions and I'm getting thorough answers for the first time about many issues and topics.


Another agent confirmed and told me that if a package is held at customs and the buyer doesn't either pay the fees/taxes/vat/import etc or provide the documentations to release it, and they open a case claiming INR, it's the buyer's responsibility and if escalated, the case would be in seller's favor.

WOW. Finally someone cleared that up. But I bet anything not all agents will see it that way and still give you a defect and you'll have to fight against it.

 

[whyyoumad]

*yawn*

too much work for 1 defect.

ebay is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you will get. One time I had a dumb Filipino worker credit me about $400 in selling fees. Just started giving her random item #s and telling her this was already credited on paypal but hasn't reflected on ebay yet and she'd have to manually credit it.

 

[gorillabob1]

You have to remember... you're dealing with $5-$10/hr employees. Most of them could care less about helping you.

 

[oatmeal]

*yawn*

too much work for 1 defect.

ebay is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you will get. One time I had a dumb Filipino worker credit me about $400 in selling fees. Just started giving her random item #s and telling her this was already credited on paypal but hasn't reflected on ebay yet and she'd have to manually credit it.

Well, my friend, I guess you didn't know that for small-time sellers (1,000 sales per year or less), 1 defect is already half way to SUSPENSION.
You can only afford 2 defects. 3 will put you under the 99.70% seller performance rating and 99.69% gets you suspended as being a bad seller. Yeah,
hard to believe 99.69% = bad seller. Nobody is held to that high a standard in this world...not even Apple, Google, Samsung, etc....their rating is probably
somewhere in the 70-80%

I've raised this concern for years now as it's just way too strict for small sellers. So yes, 1 defect is WORTH fighting for tooth and nail because it means the difference between staying alive and being suspended. IT WAS SOOOOO WORTH IT to re-visit that case and appeal the appeal and get it overturned today

 

[oatmeal]

You have to remember... you're dealing with $5-$10/hr employees. Most of them could care less about helping you.

50% of it is right. Yes, half of them really don't know anything and just copy and paste responses from their script sheet.

The other 50% are really good. In the past 2 weeks, I have received some amazing answers from these agents who finally speak some sense
and clarity to me after dealing with other agents who didn't even answer my question and just copy and pasted general information about
a case and what you can do to resolve it and avoid them lol.

Let me copy and paste a couple answers I received by the "good ones" and show you what I mean:

"
Good day and thank you for contacting eBay about the item not received case for the (case item and number) that you sold to “(name of buyer”. I understand that you need further assistance in removing the defect on your account that resulted in the closure of the case. I appreciate that you continued to reach out to us and I am happy to help. My name is Benjamin, your eBay Customer Support for today.


First of, please allow me to take this opportunity to commend you for your hard work and commitment that allowed you to maintain an above standard seller performance rating and a feedback score of 99.4%. I’ve seen how well you have communicated with your buyer and your willingness to resolve your buyer’s concerns about the item. These factors have proven that you value your performance as an eBay seller.


Having reviewed the case details, I can see that:

• Your buyer opened an item not received case claiming they have not received the item.

• You provided proof that the item delivered to your buyer after case closure.

• We had to step in and process the refund for your buyer.


I see that you made every honest effort to work things out with your buyer and taking into consideration the circumstances of this case, I decided to remove the defect on your account specifically for the transaction defect rate and Cases closed without seller resolution buckets respectively.


In some instances, the removal of the defect may take 24 to 48 hours to reflect on your seller dashboard so please give our system some time to update.


At this point, I would like to make sure that you will attain more success as a seller because your success is important to us. Please do not get me wrong, I would just like to share a few tips in avoiding defects with a seller like myself:


We do our best to make sure we reward you with built-in protection when you deliver great service:

• If you ship your item on time and upload tracking that proves it, we'll protect you from late shipment strikes, regardless of when the item is delivered.

• If something happens and your seller performance rating suffers, we won't make a change to your selling account as long as you continue to improve.

• Buyers can't open an Item not received request until the day after the stated delivery date.

• If a buyer doesn't leave Feedback, we'll count it as positive.


I trust the actions I have taken as well as all the information I provided are satisfactory to you. In summary, I removed defect on your account which means that your seller performance rating is maintained.


Thank you for choosing eBay and I wish you more success as an eBay seller.



Sincerely,


Benjamin C.

eBay Customer Support
"

*clap clap clap* give this agent an award! That was the best answer I've received compared to other agents who really didn't care and sounded like your $5-$10 hourly wage worker.

I've also said for a long time now that ebay should automatically count a transaction as a POSITIVE feedback if the shipment is delivered AND the buyer never leaves any feedback. I can't believe this might actually be true? "If a buyer doesn't leave Feedback, we'll count it as positive." ??? Have they actually finally listened to me all these years? That was my suggestion/idea.

I'm also the one who argued this for years about buyer's not being allowed to open cases before the estimate delivery date. It seems now they can't and that's great news!

 

[oatmeal]

When I asked them about what happens if you ship the item to them and it arrives in their country but is held in customs and the buyer doesn't want to do anything (pay or provide documentation) to release it and then opens a case on you saying INR.

This one always got me, too and I just ended up refunding them and taking the loss instead of risking it being escalated, but here's the wonderful answer I received:

"
Good day!


Thanks for contacting eBay about (item name and number). It’s my pleasure to assist you with the additional concerns that you have.


You are right. It is the buyer or receiver’s responsibility to pay for the customs/ duties/ vat fees of the item when the item arrives on their country. If they will not adhere with that then it will be their fault. The receivers should also provide the documents being asked from them by customs otherwise they will be hold accountable if the item will not be delivered. Delays caused by customs can be seen on the carrier websites when we check the shipment details using the tracking number. If we see that it is the buyer who is lacking action for the item to be delivered, then we will hold him accountable and we will close the case in your favor. In addition to this, the buyers should know what kind of items are restricted on their country that’s why he needs to do the adjustments to know his custom’s law.


The disclaimer that you put on the bottom of your listing about the customs information is very helpful. Kudos for that! This will let the buyer know what to do and we can use this as your protection.


I am sorry that to know that you have already experienced this kind of issues in the past and I definitely salute you for resolving the issue by voluntarily sending a full refund. I know it is a serious move on your past but I am amaze that you are willing to do this action just to resolve the issues with your buyer in a timely manner.


I am glad that I was able to assist you with your concern. I appreciate your understanding.


Thanks for choosing eBay.


Sincerely,


Kyla M.


eBay Customer Service"


Again, another amazing response, great customer rep! I was so impressed because I've never heard this much good sense from ebay before lol.
It seems like they really stepped up their game in the last few weeks since this email service was launched or re-launched. They respond to every
question I now send them.

 

[oatmeal]

Last one:

When I asked the question of what happens when the item I shipped to the buyer arrives in their country but is held in customs, and the buyer opened a INR case,
will the seller be at fault or the buyer? Here's what a "lazy" ebay support agent said vs a really good agent. Please note the differences in copy and paste style (first one) vs personable and specific response (second one).

My question:
"Enter your question / concern
Hello, thank you for taking my question.
Can you please clarify what happens in this situation:

A buyer orders from me, I ship out the package to their
given shipping information. I provide full tracking. The package
arrives in their country a few days later but is held in customs.
The buyer doesn't do anything to release it (either provide documentation or pay duties/taxes) and the package is left held at customs. The buyer later on opens a case claiming "item not received" case.

Will the seller be at fault or the buyer? Please help me know exactly what would happen in this situation as I am getting this occasionally and out of fear of risking a seller defect, I just refund them and take the loss. But I sent it to them, and they didn't want to release it from customs by paying fees or providing documents.

Your answer will help me greatly so that I know what to do in the future.

Thank you"

(First Ebay Agent response)

"
Good Day!


Thank you for getting in touch about how item not received case works. I understand your buyer opened a request stating the item was not received, and you’d like to know what happens next. I encourage you to respond to this request and work things out with the buyer.

There are a number of ways you can respond to the buyer’s request:

• Provide tracking
• Issue a full refund
• Send a message
• Offer to send a replacement item

Depending on your response, the buyer’s next options include:

• Close request
• Confirm refund (for a non-PayPal transaction)
• Send a message
• Ask eBay to step in (after 3 business days)
• Accept the offer of a replacement (if one has been made)

If you can’t reach an agreement or don’t respond to the request, the buyer can ask eBay to step in 3 business days after making the request. We’ll review the case and make a decision in 48 hours.

For more on what happens if a buyer doesn’t receive an item, copy this link into a new browser window:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/money-back-guarantee.html#resolution1

I trust this information was helpful, and I wish you the best in resolving this issue with the buyer.


Sincerely,

Emil P.
eBay Customer Support"

(LOL, see what I mean? This guy didn't even answer my question. He basically just copy and pasted the general idea of what a case is omg *facepalm*)

My response to this email was this:


"This doesn't answer my question.

I have provided a tracking number. The item was held in customs and the buyer did not release or claim it from customs.

Is this the seller's fault? Will sellers get a seller defect if buyers don't claim their packages from customs?

Just for your information, I have already refunded my buyer and closed the case, but I want to know for future reference."


(2nd ebay agent replied back and this person was awesome, too!)

"
When a package was held at customs due to customs fees/tax, it is the buyer’s responsibility to pay for the fees in order to get their package. We do have seller protection on this type of situation but I see you issued voluntary refund. I understand you have issued refund because you wanted to maintain your good seller rating or you do not want defect on your account. (<---- damn! smart agent! He totally understands why I refunded the buyer! kudos!)


If a buyer opens an item not receive and the package was last scan as held at customs because of fees, we can technically close the case in your favor if you ask eBay to step in as part of your seller protection.


I have checked your account and I trust the transaction related to your concern is the item you sold to your buyer “(name)” and we also see that an attempt to deliver was made. You will not get a defect if a package was held at customs and I like the fact that you have listed the item as “International shipment of items may be subject to customs processing and additional charges” because sometimes buyers are not aware or failed to read the entire listing.


I trust you are now fully aware if this type of scenario happens in the future. Custom fees are charged by the government for inbound international packages only and are paid by the citizen of the country. Neither the seller nor eBay has any control over these taxes, so they must be paid for any items bought internationally.


The good news about issuing the refund on the specific transaction is that the case will not count as defect in your seller dashboard and final value fees were credited.


We appreciate all your effort and extended patience in handling this matter. I trust I was able to answer your concern directly.


Sincerely,

Brixtone P.

eBay Customer Support"


*clap clap clap* this guy was another awesome agent! I hope you can see the difference I was pointing out. Some agents don't listen to your
question and don't answer it specifically and just copy and paste a generic general answer that I already know.

The second agent was very personable, knew and understood what I was going through and acknowledged my actions. He also answered my
question SPECIFICALLY right on the head.


Hope this helps anyone out there...I wanted to share this experience for you ebay sellers/buyers out there!

Cheers